Tire expander



`May zo, 1930. R, v, RTCHEY Y 1,759,713

TIRE EXPANDER Filed July 6, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l my. ff

I N VEN TOR. Fosco/5 I( RlTcHEY May 20, 1930. R. v. RlTcHEY TIRE EXPANDER Filed July 6, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

Roscoe Y Rlrcmsr BY C Y ATTO EY.

' Patented May 2), 1930 UNITED STATES yENTY orner-3,

Rosoon v. RITOHEY, or AKRON, OHIO, AssicNo To inns'iioN'n Tran AND anni Bun COMPANY, or AKRON, onIo,A conPonATroN or omo ,TIRE EXPANDER* Application filed July 6,

This invention relates to eXpanders for use in shaping pneumatic tire casings made by the flatband method into tire-shape prior to vulcanization, or for use in preliminary stretching or shaping of banded plies used in building tires on torus-shaped cores;

Heretofore different types of devices have been employed in the art for the above-de scribed purposes, there being numbered among these one type including a circumferential series of expanding shoes adapted to be spread apart radially against the inner surface of the fiat band by suitable means simultaneously operating allthe shoes,the shoes being so shaped as to properly form the tire to shape .by a stretching action thereon, and means being provided normally to hold the slices contracted.

rThe present invention is directed toward 2.o an improved expander', wherein the shaping of t-he tire isl more evenly and uniformly accomplished, the shaping element of the device also being such as to naturally contract, due to its inherent resilient nature.

An important object of the invention is to provide an annular expander of yieldable stretchable material, preferably a ring-shaped, helical, tensile spring, and means for eX- panding the same uniformly throughout its so circumference.

The foregoing and other objects are obtained by the constructionillustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail below. lt is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited to the speciiic construction shown and described. Y,

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical diametral section through a device embodying the invention sition with a flat-band tire casing mounted thereon in readiness to beI shaped;

Figure 2 is a similar view on line 2-2 of Figure 3 illustrating the. expanded position of the device, showing the manner in which when - illustrating the expander in a contracted po-k 1925. .seriai No. 41,467. A

pedestal 10 and'theninwardly as at 13,13

. andagain upwardly at 14, 141 so that atjtheir upper ends, the levers 1l are arranged in a comparatively small circle. Y The outer sides of the levers at their upper ends carry shoes 15, 1,5formed wit-h outer concave faces 16,511.6, and seated on said faces is a ring-shaped, heli-il cal, tensile spring'l? adapted to retain itselfi in'y position ,on saidfaces by its-,inherent con-y tractile property.- l vThe inner sides" of levers 11 are formed with cam faces 18,18 arranged to be engaged'by an inverted spreadingconefl) ,secured on a reciprocating rod 20 arranged in the ycenter of the cirrcle'of levers. 11A and adapted'y to be reciprocated by apiston 21jin'a cylinder 22 mounted on ipedesta-l .'10` within'rvtlie circle of levers 11. Thecone -19 isf soarrangedon rod 20 that urging of the same dcnvnwardly2r by operation o f piston 211in cyl-- in'd'er 22 will cause the co-ne 19 by engagement with the'facesr 18 oflevers vlljto. sprea.dtlie leversf1`1f-in',the manner shownfin' Figure 2.

ther'y vsuitable spreading devices'inay be ern-j5 ployed and niean'slother. than the piston 21 maybeusedftoloperate cone 19. To'supply a fluid under pressure tothe too ofthe cylin; der 22, pipe is connectedi thereto', and' to fluiphunderpressure to the bottom is connected thereto.

c di be determinate, there, f. are'pr'o':videdJ means which` the stroke of piston 21"nfuaybev varied.. ATIhis meansincl-udes an# adjusting. sc'rewf21. threadedup, wardly through the bottom` ofwcylinden`22 and of rable a hand wheel 2115,'-1a lock, V Wheel Ql'bIlafthreded en-tsv 21a. S0.. as 'toE provide v4for locling the .screw 21V inan adjustedflpfositin bybeing screwedy against a projecting' 'sleeve 22?' forme'd-'onthe lower 9:3 surface of cylin'der'22l c u i y'llolimit the .degree of,,contraction of the expander" "w'he'ii'usedL ontiresv of larger diameter than that shown, set screws 21d, 21? may be threaded through the top of k.cvlini e co7 f the upper portions offs I so Y theA degree of Stretch ml *a ,der 22 soV as to 'limitxthe upward movement Y of piston 21. f

Arranged aboutfthe levers 11r beneath Vspring 17 is an lannular supporter table 25 mounted Yon brackets 26, 26 slotted as at 27 c 27 Vand bolted through said slots by bolts 28, V 28 onto Vbrackets 29, 29v mounted lon' cylinderV 22 and extending between certain of levers 11 [gto the outer side thereofwhereby the sup- Y'10VY Pos'tlons with respect to spuug 17 port 25 nay be adjusted to Vvarious vertical- In operation,aband, Ysuchas indicated at Y 30, is mounted on table l25 in the manner shownin Figure 1, the'table being adjusted as will be understood 'to rcentralize the band n with respectto spring 17. Piston 21 is now l A operated to urge cone 19 downwardlywhere-V by levers 11 are spread apart, thus expanding'spring 17 in thepmannerl clearly shown in Figures ,2 and 8. The bandV is thus formedinto horseshoe shape in section (Figd v ure 2). The piston 21 engages the upper end of screw 21a which is originally positioned so as to determine the 'desired degree of stretch of band V30.

The piston 21 is then moved upwardly to 'operate cone 19 upwardly, whereby spring 17 lcontracts Vandjcauses levers 11'to return to their original positions, the spring 17 thus l contracting out of the formedrband 30 which .cisfthen removed from the device to be vulcanized lor for other operations.

It will berseen vfrom the foregoing-that the l Y spring 17 will stretch uniformly throughout and will thus uniforml shape'and stretch the band. By the use o the spring, the non-V uniform action of rigid shoes is avoided and y 1 the use ofseparate contracting means isob-` -being such viated, 'the contractilenature of thev spring as to bring about contraction of the device.Y

The `.construction provided is thus exceed'- V I Y A ingly simple and inexpensive aswell as beingY more efficient inresults than prior devices.

Modiiicationsof the invention may be resorted to without departing from-the spirit l thereof'or the scope offthe appendedjclaim.

What I claim is:

f gree, thus limiting Yalso the radial eXpanv -prising Y a circumferential series VVof levers pivoted 'at one end, an arcuate shoe mounted on each lever at its other end, an annular, Y

A helical, tensile springsupported by said shoes ff and tending to force the levers radially in- Y Y ward, a cone-shape'dcam engaging the 'last-f f named end of each'oi:l saidllevers, means for reciprocating the cam to swing `the levers radially*y outward and expand saidl spring, and means for "limiting the motion of, said reciprocating means to a predetermined desion of the spring; Y

Roscon v. RITCHEY; 

